Northern Advocate
  • Northern Advocate home
  • Latest news
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Sport
  • Property
  • Video
  • Death notices
  • Classifieds

Subscriptions

  • Herald Premium
  • Viva Premium
  • The Listener
  • BusinessDesk

Sections

  • Latest news
  • On The Up
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Rural
    • All Rural
    • Dairy farming
    • Sheep & beef farming
    • Horticulture
    • Animal health
    • Rural business
    • Rural life
    • Rural technology
  • Sport
  • Property
    • All Property
    • Residential property listings

Locations

  • Far North
  • Kaitaia
  • Kaikohe
  • Bay of Islands
  • Whangārei
  • Kaipara
  • Mangawhai
  • Dargaville

Media

  • Video
  • Photo galleries
  • Today's Paper - E-Editions
  • Photo sales
  • Classifieds

Weather

  • Kaitaia
  • Whangārei
  • Dargaville

NZME Network

  • Advertise with NZME
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • BusinessDesk
  • Newstalk ZB
  • Sunlive
  • ZM
  • The Hits
  • Coast
  • Radio Hauraki
  • The Alternative Commentary Collective
  • Gold
  • Flava
  • iHeart Radio
  • Hokonui
  • Radio Wanaka
  • iHeartCountry New Zealand
  • Restaurant Hub
  • NZME Events

SubscribeSign In

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Home / Northern Advocate

Could 'poo fairies' fix Hātea Loop's doggie-do problems?

By Peter de Graaf
Reporter·Northern Advocate·
15 Apr, 2019 09:00 PM2 mins to read

Subscribe to listen

Access to Herald Premium articles require a Premium subscription. Subscribe now to listen.
Already a subscriber?  Sign in here

Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech.
‌
Save

    Share this article

"Poo Fairy" Jillian Kearney at work during the Bark in the Park event in Kawakawa earlier this year. Photo / Jan Graham

"Poo Fairy" Jillian Kearney at work during the Bark in the Park event in Kawakawa earlier this year. Photo / Jan Graham

Could a poo fairy be the answer to Hātea Loop's doggie-do problems?

(See the related story: Dog poo an unwelcome feature on Whangārei's Hātea Loop.)

Since 2017 ''poo fairies'' have been cleaning up canine deposits in popular dog-walking areas around the Bay of Islands as well as installing signs urging pet owners to do the right thing.

The initiative was sparked by a letter published in a local newspaper bemoaning the filthy state of Waitotara Reserve, one of the few places in Kerikeri dogs could be exercised off-lead.

Members of the Bay of Islands Watchdogs — a lobby group set up to fight a proposed tough new dog bylaw — volunteered to patrol Waitotara Stream and pick up any offending faeces.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Through the group's Facebook page members of the public then nominated other areas in need of the fairies' magic.

Volunteers include Opua woman Jillian Kearney, who regularly walks the Paihia-Opua coastal track, another former problem area, armed with a scoop and bag.

"Poo Fairy" Jillian Kearney with the tools of her trade. Photo / Ruth Lawton
"Poo Fairy" Jillian Kearney with the tools of her trade. Photo / Ruth Lawton

On special occasions, such as the Bark in the Park event in Kawakawa earlier this year, she will don her full poo fairy regalia of sparkly tutu and wings.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Kearney said about three fairies were active at Waitotara Reserve and a similar number around Opua. The Watchdogs relied on the public to alert them via Facebook of other problem areas.

Kearney, who works as an Oxford Dictionary editor, said the poo fairies' original aim was to counter negative publicity about dogs during the bylaw campaign while cleaning up what no one wanted to see lying around.

Since she started she had been humbled to learn how many people routinely picked up rubbish, including poo, during their daily walks.

Save

    Share this article

Latest from Northern Advocate

Northern Advocate

Far North homes without power after severe gales

Northern Advocate

'Economic growth is key': Luxon discusses Northland's potential with iwi

Northern Advocate

Northland businesses unite for CCTV initiative to combat crime


Sponsored

Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Latest from Northern Advocate

Far North homes without power after severe gales
Northern Advocate

Far North homes without power after severe gales

More than 170 customers south of Cape Rēinga are still without power.

17 Jul 08:26 AM
'Economic growth is key': Luxon discusses Northland's potential with iwi
Northern Advocate

'Economic growth is key': Luxon discusses Northland's potential with iwi

17 Jul 06:02 AM
Northland businesses unite for CCTV initiative to combat crime
Northern Advocate

Northland businesses unite for CCTV initiative to combat crime

17 Jul 04:00 AM


Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky
Sponsored

Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky

06 Jul 09:47 PM
NZ Herald
  • About NZ Herald
  • Meet the journalists
  • Newsletters
  • Classifieds
  • Help & support
  • Contact us
  • House rules
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of use
  • Competition terms & conditions
  • Our use of AI
Subscriber Services
  • The Northern Advocate e-edition
  • Manage your print subscription
  • Manage your digital subscription
  • Subscribe to Herald Premium
  • Subscribe to the Northern Advocate
  • Gift a subscription
  • Subscriber FAQs
  • Subscription terms & conditions
  • Promotions and subscriber benefits
NZME Network
  • The Northern Advocate
  • The New Zealand Herald
  • The Northland Age
  • Waikato Herald
  • Bay of Plenty Times
  • Rotorua Daily Post
  • Hawke's Bay Today
  • Whanganui Chronicle
  • Viva
  • NZ Listener
  • Newstalk ZB
  • BusinessDesk
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • iHeart Radio
  • Restaurant Hub
NZME
  • About NZME
  • NZME careers
  • Advertise with NZME
  • Digital self-service advertising
  • Book your classified ad
  • Photo sales
  • © Copyright 2025 NZME Publishing Limited
TOP